Month: February, 2014

Anberlin. One of those bands that I was introduced to in high school but never came to enjoy until college. And then honestly, after their second album I never really got around to their newer music. I don’t think I’ve ever classified them as a favorite, oh sure they were probably on the list of bands I liked on Facebook circa 2006, but they were never in heavy rotation.

But, whenever one of their songs comes on Pandora I always sing along and know more of the words than I do for a lot of songs I listen to on the regular. Maybe it’s because they’re one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.

It was freshman year of college, and a friend of mine from down the hall had asked if I wanted to go a few days earlier. We bought tickets, but the day before we found out the show might not happen – the front-man had come down with the flu. Yet day of the show was still on so we walked down to what was then the Beta Bar (now the Engine Room?) and jammed in with everyone else. The band that opened for them, Showbread, was this insane screamo-noise rock mash-up band that performed with a fairly intoxicating energy. But then Anberlin came on. And even though they were touring in support of their (at the time) newest album, which I had only listened to once or twice and the fact that the lead singer had a 100+ degree fever they just absolutely killed it.

Let’s admit it, Super Bowl XLVIII was pretty lame unless you’re a diehard Seahawks fan. And even most of the commercials were pretty lame. But, I did catch an interesting take-away from one of them – that today, February 4th is World Cancer Day. So, I did a little research and found that this is an amazing organization dedicated to getting people to understand cancer so that they can seek the prevention or treatment they need. This year they are running a campaign called “Debunking The Myths” focused on knocking out the 4 biggest myths that prevent people from talking about and understanding this disease.

In the spirit of my last post I’d like to focus on the 1st Myth “We Don’t Need To Talk About Cancer.” This is probably the single biggest block on a greater cultural awareness of cancer. The benefits of discussing cancer are huge, while remaining silent about it can harm not only you, but your friends, family, community, and business as well.

The most intriguing fact to me was from the section titled Cancer and the Workplace. A direct quote: “In low resource settings, the costs of cancer can be catastrophic for families, with the high costs of cancer treatment and absence from work, impoverishing families.” This speaks directly to what Aflac can do to protect you and your family. I only wish they included not just those with low resources, but even those of modest means. A cancer diagnosis can be a huge burden even for those in the middle class, with costs avergaing $35,000 in out of pocket expenses even for people with Major Medical Insurance.

Here’s my challenge for you, this week go out and talk to 2 people about cancer. Whether it’s a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, or a business partner it doesn’t matter. Just open the conversation with them. And if it’s something they’re concerned about, have them get in touch with me to discuss their options to protect their family against the rising cost of cancer.

Many of you may know on a cursory level that I work for Aflac, but many of you may not know why. Aflac built itself up on the idea of Cancer Insurance – the idea that in light of the physical and emotional toll that this disease can take on friends and loved ones, a family should not have to be overly concerned with the financial concerns of a cancer diagnosis and it’s often lengthy treatment.

This is why I work for Aflac. After losing my father to cancer, and knowing all the different ways that my wifes family was affected by it when her mother went through treatment for breast cancer, this policy and all of the protection it can provide hold a very important place in my heart. I have seen how this plan can and does provide families with the financial freedom to focus on the physical and emotional support that a person needs during such a difficult period in their life.

I’ve never been very vocal about this policy with family and friends before. Never talked much about its ability to pay out tens of thousands of dollars during a period of treatment. But after reading this article the other day, it really moved me to reach out.

At face value the article is scary enough – that Cancer is set to eclipse Heart Disease as the No. 1 lethal disease in the US, a title which Heart Disease has held since the first time the CDC ever published its mortality report back in 1958. But, as always the devil is in the details. The article even comes right out and says that we are getting better and better reducing the mortality rate of cancer. What that really means is that cancer is slowly transitioning from terminal illness to chronic disease. And even more so we are learning first hand every day that cancer never truly goes away. That remission has replaced the word cured.

What this says to me is that there will be more and more treatments. More radiations, more chemo-therapies, more surgeries, more anti-nausea medicine, more experimental drug trials, more bone marrow transplants, on and on ad nauseum. Fortunately all of these things and more are covered by the Aflac Cancer policy so that we can have the luxury of being their to take care of those who matter most.

Cancer can be a difficult subject. Insurance can be a difficult subject. But it would really mean a lot to me to have the opportunity to speak with you directly about what I do and how I can help you protect yourself and your loved ones.